Away from the Sun
by Tales from a Teacup
Summary: POST MOVIE! Vlad has been living an invisible life before a mysterious and fiery woman thrusts him back into the world of vampires. Recently, a group of vampires have been trying to eliminate all half-breeds and Olivia believes that Dracula can be the key in turning things to their favor. But can he?
1. Mysterious Woman

It was a Sunday, October the 26th to be exact. Everywhere seemed to be painted in orange and black for the upcoming holiday that all kids truly seemed to enjoy. Mothers rushed along with their children who skipped next to the hurried feet with some sort of accessory that they just bought. Bringing the hot coffee to his lips, he wondered if Ingeras would've loved such a holiday as this. He knew his son would've wanted this type of holiday to go on nearly four times a year if he had the power to. A sad smile filled his lips as he brought the cup down and stared at the lonely table that he was accompanying.

The crows cawed in the distance as the man placed a tip on the table before he got up to leave. The sky was already darkening, giving a warning that autumn was now finally taking its toll on the earth. Around him he could see humans hugging their scarves and jackets closer to their body as the breeze seemed to have picked up. The wind had no effect on him as he continued to walk back over to where his house dwelled. All around him it seemed that everyone was moving 10 times faster than he was all just to get away from the chill of autumn.

He looked up to the sky at the tall buildings and was fascinated by how the times and technology had quickly hanged. If the man had bottled himself up for 100 years the world around him would easily have left him confused and dazed once he emerges. He shoved his hands inside of his pockets as he tried his best not to think about his growing hunger. He had accidentally just ate last night and knew there was a few drops of blood left in the body inside his home.

"It's cold!" a little boy complained, "Can we go home now?"

The mysterious man came to a stop in the middle of the street and listened as he closed his eyes and pretended that he had a headache. The was something wrong about what was going on here. He opened his eyes and let out a low growl as he continued to walk but in a faster pace.

"I really like this one on you, Rachel! Why don't you buy it?" a teenage girl said to her friend.

"Because it's $110.00! That's all that's in my checking account. Do you honestly think that I would be able to afford that? Maybe when I marry a hot doctor but not when I'm 15 years old. Come on, let's get out of here" the other friend replied.

An alleyway came up right in the middle of the block as he quickly ducked inside and walked faster down the slimy and closed off street. His frustrations grew deeper as he slowed down to a stop and tried to contain himself from letting out a roar.

"Why are you following me?" he let out in a dark voice.

He turned around to see a woman there standing behind him.

She had brown hair that went past her shoulder blades with light green eyes. He couldn't help but give her a peculiar stare as he could clearly see and hear that her heart was pumping blood but very faintly which gave her a slight blush on her pale skin. He faced her and looked at the woman strangely as he could clearly see that this girl was a vampire but not like him. He also knew there was no way that she could be a vampire considering how he eliminated all the vampires he created. He walked over to the woman who slightly gasped but yet stood her ground and rose her chin up to her superior. He slightly glared down to her and wondered if she knew who he was.

There was no doubt in his mind that she already knew who he was. She trembled under his stare and seemed almost terrified to look at him right in the eye. He knew that this woman has followed him all day. He just hoped that by sitting in front of the coffee shop the woman would get bored and eventually leave. Now he could see that this woman was just like him and could wait an eternity if she wanted to.

"You are the man that they call Dracula, right?" the woman asked.

At the sound of the name, Vlad let out a low growl and turned around to walk out of the alleyway. He only went five steps before he stopped himself and waited. For some reason, he couldn't leave the woman in the alleyway alone. He turned around and saw the pleading look in her eyes, making him turn around and face her.

"Why?" Vlad asked, "What are you?"

"I was born half vampire, half human" the mysterious woman explained.

"How is that possible?" Vlad questioned.

The woman shifted uncomfortably as she looked down the alleyway over to society. Vlad watched the woman and noticed that she was scared, but not because of Vlad. She was being hunted down.

The thought of her being hunted didn't faze him as much as he knew it should have. What he was mostly concerned about was how could this woman be "born" as a vampire?

The woman looked back to him and he knew that she was waiting for him to tell her to come inside or be anywhere near him.

She let out a little sigh as she walked past him and down the alleyway. Vlad turned and followed the woman. He knew that she wasn't from his generation. He killed everyone that he created for one, also, she didn't have the same accent as he did. He did know that she was definitely not from this era. The half-breed glances back to see if Vlad was following and gave a small smile when she realized that he was.

He wanted to stop her but as they went into the crowded street, he knew that asking about her being a half-breed would make the humans think he's crazy. Vlad walked in time with the woman this time as she kept her mouth shut. She moved swiftly and quietly as she weaved herself in and out of the crowd. He couldn't help but notice that she kept on looking around and checking her bearings as she chose to stay in the middle of the sidewalk. He guessed that was a good strategy considering how all the humans' hearts were thundering in Vlad's ears while he could barely make out hers.

The woman opened up a car door, "In here"

Vlad watched as the woman quickly went into the car and waited for him to come inside. He didn't know her name or anything, all he really knew was that she knew he was Dracula. Now would've been a perfect time to run off and leave her but her frightful eyes bore into his mind already. Vlad opened up the passenger door and sat down in the Audi and waited in silence for her to speak.

When she didn't speak for a whole minute, he turned to her, "What is your name?"

"Olivia" the woman responded.

"And you know who I am" Vlad replied, "But why did you want to find me so desperately?"

"Because I need your help" Olivia turned to him, "A group of vampires are trying to wipe out my kind. I'm hoping that you being Dracula and all, it would have some sort of influence on them leaving us alone"

Olivia glanced into her side mirror and looked around the busy streets of Seattle. It's been too long since the last attack which only meant that they were regrouping. She couldn't risk another fight among her kind and the vampires.

"I don't understand" Vlad shook his head, "I killed all the vampires I created"

"But you weren't the only vampire" Olivia turned to Dracula, "And he wasn't too clean with cleaning up his tracks. Now there are a bunch of vampires thinking that we are a disgrace to the kind and should be eliminated"

Olivia put the key into the ignition and started up the car and pulled out of her parking. Vlad moved to stop but he couldn't help but feel curious about what she was talking about.

Olivia quickly turned a corner and started to gain up some speed and drive away from the city.

"Where are we going?" Vlad asked, "What makes you think that I would have any influence on the battle? There won't be much that I could do. I've remained in the dark for far too long. No one will know that I am Dracula"

"You give off a different feeling when you're around, almost like you are a king" Olivia explained, "If anyone could stop this kind of cruelty, it's you. I'm taking you over to the nest were the others are"

"The others?" Vlad questioned, "So you've regrouped. Why don't you just outnumber them and hold your ground like most battle strategies? Seems to work when I hear about them"

Olivia shook her head and chuckled as she got onto the freeway. Vlad felt the pressure of speed hit his chest as she sped down the highway. He could definitely tell that being out in the open wasn't something that she was too fond of. That could also give the vampires a full advantage as they know that the half-breeds wouldn't take the fight to them. Vlad reached up and grabbed onto the handle as Olivia swerved out-of-the-way of a white van. She glanced over to Dracula's arm and shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"We are slower and weaker than your kind but still faster and stronger than any human" Olivia explained, "Even with 100 half-breeds, five vampires can annihilate them in no time. I've seen it before"

"How many are at the nest?" Vlad asked.

"Including me, the count would be at 15" Olivia looked over to Dracula.

She glanced back over to the road before taking a ramp that would lead them over to the wooded side of Seattle. Vlad let go of the handle and started to pinch his lip as he though about what he could be seeing. He never once thought about the option of having a half human half vampire mix. It seemed too complex in his mind for anything like that to happen. He looked over to Olivia who seemed too concentrated on driving to even keep a conversation going with him.

"When were you... born?" Vlad asked.

"In the year 1614" Olivia told him.

"You're 400 years old then. I was thinking that half-breed couldn't be immortal" Vlad stated.

"We have the option to be immortal or not" Olivia stated.

"How?" Vlad asked, "Forgive me for prying. I just never thought about it being possible. About an hour ago I thought I was the only vampire left in history. I've completely forgot about the Master Vampire. How is it that you can age and I can not?"

"Because we have the ability to either drink blood or eat regular food without it tasting so disgusting" Olivia told him.

"And when you have a period of eating normal food, that's when you age" Vlad pieced together.

"See?" Olivia turned to him, "You're started to get it now. You should rest, we won't be at the nest for a while. I will wake you when we're close by. I just hope that when you see them, you will help us"


	2. The Half-Breed Clan

Vlad hadn't meant to fall asleep when he did. But when he felt his head hit upon the corner of the door, his eyes snapped open and realized that it was already dark. A slow rock song played on the radio faintly as the dark red light barely illuminated Olivia's face. She had relaxed her hands on the steering wheel from the last time that he had his eyes on her. The woman hadn't realized that he had woken up just yet. Instead, her smile slightly brightened as the car went to a stop as she placed it into park.

When Vlad heard Olivia say 'nest', he thought about a run-down factory of lesser sorts. But he had to say that he was amazed to see a grand Victorian Mansion in front of him in the middle of the woods. The lights were on inside and he could hear the distant murmurs of the half breeds hearts all inside. Vlad leaned back and looked over to Olivia who waited to see how the elder vampire would take this all in. She then turned off the car and continued to stare at the building like as if she hadn't seen it in a long time.

"Home sweet home" Olivia said, "Ready to meet everyone? Don't take it too personally if they all start to flee for a hiding space. We've been through a lot these past couple of months"

"I would not blame them" Vlad spoke up, "You said that one half of their kind is trying to kill them"

"They, of course, also didn't know that I left to go and find you. Even our kind thought that you were a myth"

"It's hard to hear that even now. After all that I've been through"

"How true is the legend compared to what actually happened?" Olivia asked.

Flashbacks came through his mind as he remembered the Turks, the Master Vampire, and the deadly fall that took Mirena's life. Even though his heart hasn't beat in centuries, he still felt the pang of loss shoot through it. Vlad looked back up to what appeared to be a peaceful home on the outside. He knew his lost beloved would want him to help out in any way if it meant to prevent an annihilation from happening.

Olivia cast her eyes down to the keys in her hand as she slowly moved them around. She didn't know why she even thought about asking that question to Dracula himself. She straightened up and looked at the mansion as she knew what was going to happen once they go through those doors.

Right now, the half-breeds had suffered a great defeat. The last vampire that was willing to help them just died in the last battle.

"I will save the tale for later" Vlad finally answered.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked something like that" Olivia apologized.

"You are very young" Vlad told her, "Being inquisitive is part of your nature"

"I don't think I'm that young after living for 400 years" Olivia scoffed.

"Trust me. After living as long as I have, it is still very young"

"Shall we meet the family then?"

Upon opening up the door, Vlad and Olivia were greeted face to face with an elder vampire who had a stern look on his face, "Olivia! You've been gone for two whole days and not a word on where you were going! I was about to sacrifice four of your kind to go and search for you. Who in the hell is this?"

"He is the legendary Dracula that everyone has talked about, just listen to your senses and you will believe me" Olivia responded.

"I am so sorry!" the elder man bent down onto one knee, "I had no idea that you were coming here, my lord!"

"Be at ease" Vlad said almost in a second nature way.

"As you wish" the half-breed got up, "My name is Noah. Have you come to help us?"

"We will see about that" Vlad stole a look over to Olivia, "I'm still new to this feud that has gone on. Everything seemed to be thrusted onto me in the last two hours"

"This was a very desperate time" Olivia turned to Vlad, "We were starting to lose hope in finding a way to avoid this type of conflict. Too long have we been running away from these beasts and barely even hurting them when we had the chance to fight back. Lance believed in you so I had to find you to avenge him"

"So that's what this is all about?" Noah asked, "Lance? Forgive us, my lord. Lance was Olivia's father. He was the last one of our defense. He died earlier this month"

"I am sorry to hear that" Vlad looked over to Olivia who cast her eyes down to the ground, "He seemed like a noble man. I wish I got the chance to meet him before his passing. How many vampires and half-breeds have you lost to this?"

"24" Noah answered after Olivia refused to speak, "11 half-breeds and 13 vampires. We try to regroup as many half-breeds as we can find but we are always five steps behind. Not only that, we are being hunted ourselves. Having a large group tends to have its disadvantages. One of them being that we seem to be some sort of game for these hunters. The problem is, we're running out of places to hide. I fear that they will lead us into a trap sooner or later. We've been stocking up on blood. Refusing to eat human food now that we see what they're planning. Just hoping that our strength becomes just as strong as the vampires but it never does. We are half-breeds and with being called that we only have half the strength of vampires. This seems to be the reason the vampires are after us the way they are now"

Vlad stiffened as he felt his mouth go into a straight line due to frustration.

"This is why we need your help" Olivia said in a small voice.

"I hate beings like that" Vlad agreed, "I can teach you all you need to know in combat. And there must be an escape route that will be ready if they come back"

"There is a reason we've saved this safe house for last. There is a tunnel underneath this house that goes on for some time"

"That won't be good enough. These vampires will know where the tunnel ends before they even plan to attack here"

"Then what can we do?" Noah asked.

Before Vlad could speak, a woman ran down the stairs and stopped with a man behind her. Upon seeing Olivia, the two quickly ran down the rest of the stairway and quickly embraced the woman. Olivia smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek as she pet the other woman's hair. Olivia then turned to the man who swooped her up in a bone crushing hug before letting her down to the ground. The woman and man turned to Dracula and quickly bowed down and stayed there. Vlad recognized the bow from his times when he was a human and felt a bittersweet moment as he commanded them to stand up.

"My lord, these are my siblings" Olivia turned to her brother and sister, "This is Kayleen and Daniel. Lance was our father. He often talked to us about your battles and your sacrifice to the Master Vampire"

"I am sorry for your loss" Vlad told the brother and sister, "So that is why you came after me? What happened if I sided with the other vampires? What if it was a suicide mission that you embarked on?"

"I knew it wouldn't be like you" Olivia spoke up, "You were a noble man, even when you fully turned into a vampire"

"It was a risk that Olivia had to take to save our kind. She understood what would be at stake if you had killed her"

"You two knew about this?!"

"We knew who she went to set out for the second the clan knew she was missing" Daniel admitted.

"That was a very bold move" Noah told Olivia.

"Are you not glad that I did it?" Olivia asked, "We might have gained a great ally if he agrees to protect us. We would've been as good as dead if I hadn't gone and searched for him"

"You can not bring the likes of Dracula here and force him to help us" Noah scolded, "Mind your manners, girl!"

Vlad looked over to the side and did a double take of the living room. A boy of 13 stood in the other room, watching the group discuss the future of this clan. Vlad saw the doe eyes of his son and even the shaggy hair that he knew that Ingeras was going to have. A woman came into the room and draped his arm around the boy and whispered something to him but his eyes were transfixed on Dracula. He was waiting to hear the decision that he was going to make.

"I will fight" Vlad quickly stated to the group.

Olivia looked up to the man and blinked in surprise. She thought it was only her imagination but then she realized that Noah, Daniel, and Kayleen were all looking at him in that same way. Her heart seemed to beat faster as she watched as Dracula himself turned to Olivia and gave her a nod. He reached out and gave her arm a light squeeze before turning back to Noah.

Everyone in the room seemed stunned at the moment and had no idea how to react. An ancient vampire has just agreed to help a lesser kind. He has agreed to step forward and end this hunt in violence if he has to.

Olivia turned and looked over to Kayleen who had tears in her eyes as she grabbed onto her sister's hand and gave it a tight squeeze. If only their father could see them now.

"You will?" Noah finally asked, "But why? Why risk your reputation for us?"

Dracula set his eyes to the elderly half-breed in front of him.

"Because long ago, I fought a battle similar to this. I will not let this get out of hand. Now is a time to fight back against them. I can teach you all that"

"Thank you"

"Do not thank me just yet" Vlad shook his head.

"We have to" Kayleen spoke up as she walked up to Dracula, "We've prayed for a warrior to come and help our side for ages now. I guess I speak for everyone when we didn't expect Dracula to come forward and be the savior for us all"


	3. Understanding One Another

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Olivia asked the next day, "We aren't even as strong as a full-blooded vampire"

"It does not mean that you shouldn't learn self-defense" Vlad countered.

Vlad and Olivia opened up the doubled doors to see the half bloods all inside the main ballroom. The furniture was either crowding the already small hallways or pushed off to the side. Vlad could easily tell who was the younger ones of the half-breed just by how playful some of them are, even when they looked to be about 50 years old. Vlad seemed to have gone unnoticed by nearly everyone in the room except a few female half-breeds who immediately started to smile and gossip about him. He noticed that Kayleen was in the middle of the circle and seemed to be bombarded by nearly all the questions. Vlad looked over to Olivia who only let out a small sigh and just continued to walk into the room.

"I trust you slept well?" Noah appeared by Dracula's side.

"Yes. Thank you"

"Have you done this kind of thing before?"

"Not for a very long time" Vlad slowly shook his head.

Before Noah could ask another question, the men heard a series of hisses from the center of the room. It looked like three of the vampires had suddenly took their playful bantering seriously and were fighting. Daniel came out from somewhere in the room and quickly broke up the fight with another female half-breed who was standing along the sidelines as well. Vlad squinted his eyes and took a step forward as he found the situation interesting. One of the half-breeds hissed one more time at the other which only cause Daniel to roughly push him farther away.

"Forgive the young ones" Noah let out in a breath.

Vlad looked around the room as he noticed that no one really reacted to the series of hisses. It was almost normal to everyone else for fights to just randomly break out. Olivia stood by the chimney as she played with a necklace that she had on. When her eyes met Vlad's, she quickly cast them down and moved away from where she was standing.

"It's not that. Half-breeds hiss?" Vlad questioned.

"Ah yes, another small set back that we haven't achieved from our vampire counterparts" Noah explained.

Vlad looked over to Noah who seemed to have not really notice anything wrong with that. He still remembers how a growl or a roar would erupt from his lungs and give off a powerful being to his nature. Hissing just sounded weird to him.

"Cute" Vlad answered back, "Very cute"

"Shall we start?" Noah asked.

"We will" Vlad answered, "I just like to see my students before I begin. It is not like I've done this in the last century, you know? I am afraid I might be a bit delayed in my teachings"

Vlad looked around the room and the ceiling, noticing how high it was and how the morning light doesn't seem to affect them. He hadn't seen the sunlight in who knows how many years.

"Olivia usually picks the places out" Noah read Vlad's mind, "She always knows where to go and which building to pick for our people to hide out in"

"So she's the Architect of the clan" Vlad stated, "She's very wise to do so. I don't think you would have lasted as long as you did"

"We're very grateful for her" Noah nodded, "She makes sure to have a plan of escape for our people before even thinking about buying the house out"

Vlad looked over to Olivia who was watching her brother and sister from afar before Vlad decided to take a step toward the center of the room.

"May I have your attention, please?" Vlad questioned.

When no one listened, Olivia quickly stepped up and yelled, "Hey!"

Still, no one listened to either of them. Dracula then lifted up his chest and let out a roar and seemed to have moved the chandelier up above him. A series of gasps came from around him as they all quickly quieted down. As he looked around the room one last time, he could tell that the half-breeds finally knew who he really was. He saw fear, surprise, and a few happy faces all staring at him. Olivia was right, when the half-breeds concentrated their senses they will notice how ancient his body is and could only be one person.

"I'm Dracula! But I am pretty sure that all of you know that by now" Dracula began.

A female voice came from his left, "Are you with the other vampires?"

"No. I am here to help all of you in winning this battle with them" Dracula answered.

"How?" a male voice asked, "They're stronger than us"

"True, but there is something that you do have that they lack" Dracula pointed out.

"What's that?" the 13-year-old boy from last night asked.

Dracula turned to the little boy, "You have one enraged ancient vampire on your side. He was also known as Vlad the Impaler back when he was human. And he was known for achieving victory over a mass of numbers even before he became Dracula that our enemies fear today"

* * *

><p>"That was some speech you gave. Never really thought that would happen" Vlad heard Olivia once the session was finished, "In fact, I never really knew that some of them really had the fighting spirit in them. How did you learn to do that? Years of experience? It sure as hell seemed like it. Or was that the speech you gave to your kingdom when they tried to burn you?"<p>

Vlad felt a pang of sadness as he remembered when his people tried to turn against him because of their beliefs. He can still feel the heat of the flames as Mirena screamed out his name. His eyes cast down to his hands as he gently messaged them after being sore from fighting all the half-breeds in the room. Vlad looked over to Olivia who stood not too far from him. He knew her question could be seen as an insult to most people and knew that it was not Olivia's intention to put him down. Now that he's gotten to know the half-breed, he knew that Olivia was an innovative inventor with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

"It just appears in my mind. Everyone used to say that I was a natural" Vlad answered, "How did you know about the fire?"

"My father kind of had a obbsession over you" Olivia shrugged, "He believed that there had to have been a reason the Master Vampire suddenly disappeared the way he did. That's when he dug deeper and figured out your origin"

"He's a very clever man" Vlad complimented, "The only stories I hear about myself are of the times when I was already a vampire"

"I really wish that he could've seen you now. He would've lost his mind that you of all people were helping us" Olivia sighed, "You would think after 400 years I would've gotten tired of hearing your name. Truth is, I feel like I fell in love with you just by the way of his words. That's something that seemed kind of like a gift that was given to him"

"I'm sorry for your lost" Vlad apologized again, "You know he was only thinking about you in his time of death. All parents do. I did when I was at the campsite. I just never expected to come right back"

"So you did actually do it. You did try to kill yourself" Olivia said in a hushed voice.

"Try, but did not succeed. Thanks to a servant of mine" Vlad rolled his eyes, "Or so he said"

"I've never heard of someone trying to do that to themselves" Olivia commented.

Vlad faced his body to Olivia, "I just drained my wife's blood completely dry and watched my son being snatched away from me. The world that I once loved and created was destroyed because of this curse"

"I can understand that" Olivia nodded as she cast her eyes to the ground.

Vlad could tell that he was hitting a rough subject for her, "If you don't mind me asking. I just feel vulnerable after how you know nearly everything about me but I don't know anything about you. It seems only fair if I know something about you. Just one step at a time. How are half-breeds created?"

"How do you think half-breeds are "created"?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"Nevermind then" Vlad quickly said, "So what happens after that. When you bite into someone and infect them? Do they become a half-breed or a vampire? Or are they half of a half-breed?"

"Half-breeds don't have the venom to turn others into vampires, we only feed and can't infect" Olivia objected.

"Lucky you" Vlad said in a lower voice.

"Really? That's the first time I ever heard that" Olivia sounded surprised.

"Remember, I only wanted this power for a temporary battle. I never expected to get a lifetime of hell" Vlad stated, "So how much older are you from Daniel and Kayleen?"

"I never told you that I was the eldest one" Olivia replied back.

"It was kind of obvious. When you came back they didn't scold you, you constantly watch over them, and when I gave them a compliment they always look to you for approval. You've been almost like a mother to them" Vlad explained.

"That's the difficult part of being a half-breed, no mothers. Someone has to look out for them when Lance isn't here" Olivia suddenly stopped.

"You have to watch your mother grow old and die? That must've been difficult for all of you" Vlad moved to touch Olivia but she pulled away.

Olivia crossed her arms, "My mother died shortly after giving birth to me. Kayleen's mother was the only one who died of old age and Daniel's had gotten sick after he turned 15"

Vlad watched Olivia as she went down the list of the potential mothers that they had. He wondered how Lance ever got around to tell his lovers of what was growing inside of them. How did the women agree to this life of darkness? Or to repeatedly go over the potential mothers, knowing that someday they will die and the children would live. He suddenly realized that maybe he did have the better part of the deal.

"Why didn't your father just turn them?" Vlad couldn't believe he was asking that sort of question.

"He didn't want to curse them with this life. Just like you" Olivia responded.

"Did he ever tell you of his human life?" Vlad asked.

"He had everything he wanted until he was bitten. He had just left the pub and was on his way home to his wife when he came across a vampire" Olivia recalled.

"So he stayed away from his human family"

"The opposite actually. He felt invincible and went to change his wife in hopes that they could live forever. Once she changed, she became a monster"

"I've seen that before"

"Then you must know of the hard decision that he had to make" Olivia told him, "Killing the one that he loves the most"

"That is why your father refuses to change any of you. In hopes that no one turned out like her" Vlad nodded, "You must've opened up his heart to new possibilities when he realized that he could still be a father"

"And now you know, are you going to go off and impregnate half of Seattle's population of women?" Oliva said with a light play in her voice.

Vlad let out a small laugh, "Maybe. When all this is over. Come on. Let's go get something to eat"


	4. Lips of an Angel

Vlad sat in the darkness staring up at the full moon from his window. His room was so dark but it was nothing in contrast to how the nocturnal world looked from his view. He could see the millions of stars and the animals all in the forest. Vlad got up and walked over to the window and peered out into the forest that surrounded the nest. He knew that Mirena and Ingeras would've loved how peaceful and beautiful the lands looked from this side of the world. His heart stopped beating centuries ago but just thinking about the ones he had left in time seemed to still rip him into pieces even today.

_"Just think about how magical the Castle would look if it was only surrounded by the forest?" _Mirena's voice crept into his mind.

_"We can also imagine how the castle would look if it was alone on an island as well" _Vlad would always joke.

_"Stop that!" _Mirena tossed the dress that she was putting into the trunk over to Vlad, _"At least think about it. We have nothing to fear and shouldn't be confined to just one piece of land. If not a castle for our whole kingdom to enjoy then maybe just a cottage instead. It could be our little secret"_

_"A secret home away from home?" _Vlad wrapped an arm around Mirena and brought her closer, _"I'm starting to live that idea. Tomorrow let's go out for a ride to find where that cottage shall dwell"_

Vlad walked into the kitchen to see Kayleen sitting alone at the little island, he smiled to her and said, "Doesn't anyone sleep around here? I would figure that most of you would be tired after training. I guess that will be good for one the fighting comes. What troubles you?"

"I haven't really gotten much sleep lately" Kayleen shrugged, "Everyone has their own way of grieving. Mine just happens to be a progressive growing insomnia"

Vlad slowly nodded as he turned around and opened up the refrigerator. He found it kind of peculiar that it all contained blood and a few raw meat. He grabbed one and checked the blood type before walking over to the cupboard. Vlad could understand where Kayleen was going about grief. Now he understood that Olivia's was to be alone and in search of a new hope and her sisters was to be alone at night with her thoughts. Vlad put the cup to his lips as he walked over to the seat next to Kayleen a grimace crossed his face as the blood tasted foul to him.

"I prefer to drink it cold. I hate the feeling of craving blood all the time"

"It's not that bad. You do realize that we can feed on almost anything we want, human or not"

"That's what terrifies me the most" Vlad looked over to her, "What happens when I become so hungry that I can wipe out an entire zoo? Not just the animals but the families that went there to have a good time too?"

Vlad moved to explain more about his pain when suddenly he stopped as his ears perked up on something outside. He turned around and looked out into the black night world just outside of the kitchen. Vlad let out a low growl before he turned into a series of bats as he crashed through the window outside. He materialized and grabbed onto something and slammed it down to the ground as he let out a low growl. Vlad got up and turned his dark red pupils to another figure who seemed to have the same glowing eyes as him.

"So it's true" the male on the ground said.

"You're the Dracula" the other replied.

Dracula turned to the two vampires, "What business do you have of the half-breeds?"

"I knew that half-witted bitch would go ahead and call on the Dark One to finish her battles for her" one scoffed.

Vlad let out a loud and angry roar as he turned around and grabbed onto the smaller ones neck. Even though the vampire couldn't breathe anymore, the look of fear crossed his face as he grabbed onto Vlad's wrists. He lifted him up off of the ground as he forced the man to look him in the eyes. With a flick of his hand, he made the other vampire join the first one on the ground.

The second one immediately sat up and looked up to Dracula as he trembled in his skin. He noticed that they both looked either in their late teenage years or early twenties but looks could be deceiving. He bent down and let out a low growl as his nails grew out into claws and his skin turned grey.

"You listen to me very carefully. You will not hunt down these half-breeds for sport ever again" Vlad commanded, "This little game ends tonight. If I hear of anyone hunting down anyone that is a half-breed again, I will destroy them myself"

"This has been going on for centuries" the second one said in a quivering voice.

Vlad quickly grabbed onto the first one, pulled him up to his feet and twisted his head completely off of his body. His skin turned to dust and his skeleton crumpled down onto the ground between the other vampire and Vlad.

The vampire let out some sort of scream as he tried to back away from Vlad but the Dark One grabbed onto his arm and pulled him to his face.

"Did that look fun to you?" Vlad asked.

"He was my sire!" the vampire yelled out.

"I asked if that seemed fun to you?" Vlad repeated, "Answer my question"

"No" the vampire shook his head, "It looked painful. Are you going to kill me now? Are you going to end my life as well?"

"No. I'm going to do just the opposite" Vlad growled.

"Why?" the vampire asked, "I don't understand"

"Someone has to deliver a message" Vlad said in a slow voice, "You seem more than eager to do so"

"You don't understand. They'll kill me!" he shook his head, "You don't know what they will do to me"

"That's nothing compared to what I have in plan for them" Vlad responded.

Vlad opened the door to see all the half-breeds up and packing, "What's happening? Everyone stop packing! We're not leaving this nest"

"We're not leaving?" Olivia broke through the crowd, "The vampires know we're here! They will be here by tomorrow night burning down this building with everyone in it. That's what they did in Ireland. The same thing happened in Canada. You may think that they've given up but they don't. They'll never leave us alone"

"And that is why we must stay and fight" Vlad walked over to Olivia, "I've retreated before when I feared the Turks. The only thing it ever brought me was grief, fear, and anger. I'm not going to let your people walk into that same trap"

"So we're going to wait here until they come to kill us?" Kayleen asked, "We can't just sit and wait to defend ourselves"

"That is not what I'm saying"

"We take a page out of their book"

"What're you talking about"

"We figure out where their nest is" Daniel spoke up, "Bring the fight to them. Let them see how it feels like to be hunted"

"Are you crazy?" Noah demanded, "They're stronger than us"

"I've only met with two of them but I've learned something that will even up our odds" Vlad announced, "They're only just bullies with heightened senses. The vampires don't know a thing about putting up a good fight"

"So you want us to train to become soldiers?" Daniel asked.

"If it keeps you alive then yes" Vlad agreed, "They think that just because they're full-blooded vampires that they will have more of a strategy than you"

"And what if you're wrong? What if a few that are battle trained like you?" Kayleen questioned.

"That's not possible"

"How?" Olivia crossed her arms over her chest, "What if they just sent out their weakest links?"

"Don't you understand?" Vlad questioned, "If these vampires were soldiers than they wouldn't have weak links. They wouldn't even have wasted time in those two that were in the woods. These vampires only want to feel invincible"

"All the more reason to leave" a woman spoke up.

"No" Vlad shook his head, "All the more reason to stay and fight. If you stand up for yourselves, think about what this could do to the vampire community? You won't just be saving your own clan but others as well"

"I'm in" Daniel quickly volunteered, "I'm sick and tired of moving around"

"Daniel" Olivia scolded.

He turned to his eldest sister, "What do you want to do? Flee again, Olivia? The reason dad believed in Dracula was because he hoped that one day he will help change everything. You don't know how worried Kayleen and I get when you have to leave to find another haven for us"

"He's right" Kayleen looked around to the clan, "No more hiding"

"And what happens if some of us don't want to fight?"

"Then they can still use the tunnels to leave when the time is right. We will meet up with all of you when all of this is over"

"I'm in" the boy stepped through the crowd.

"Dracula" Olivia whispered to the man.

"You summoned me here to help save your people" Vlad said in a hushed voice, "Now that I'm finally coming up with a plan, you don't want any part of it? Trust me on this. I know what I'm doing"

"I hope so" Olivia responded with tears in her eyes.

"We continue training tomorrow. Those who don't want to fight still need to come in case the vampires decide to catch us off guard again" Vlad announced as he went up the stairs and back to his bedroom.


	5. Lance's Children

"He's pretty good, isn't he?" Kayleen asked Olivia as they watched Daniel's sparring match with another vampire, "He's a fast learner. I'm almost certain that Dracula will want him to stay and fight. Don't you think?"

Olivia stiffened up as she continued to study her brother in action. It was true that he was light on his feet and very quick with his agility. But thinking about him going up against a full-blooded vampire was something that she couldn't stand at the moment. She was always protective of her two siblings even when their father was around. Olivia swallowed back the tears as finally Daniel pinned his partner to the ground, symbolizing that he's won the match. All around him, people started cheering as the two half-breeds shook hands in a sign of respect before going their opposite ways.

"I think I'm starting to get the hang of this" Daniel smiled to his sisters.

"Just because you've won two battles, doesn't make you invincible to them" Olivia looked over to her brother, "Learn to keep your comments to yourself"

"A complement would've been more nice"

"She's just in one of her bad moods"

"Ah!" Daniel nodded, "So that means it's one of the 300 days where she thinks she can snap at anything"

"Shut up" Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Come on!" Kayleen encouraged, "Lighten up already. We got what father has always wanted"

"Not everything" Olivia mumbled.

Kayleen and Daniel exchanged a look before their brother spoke up, "He died protecting us"

"He knew he had to give up his life to make sure that we were far away from the last nest" Kayleen chimed in.

"Lance should've been more careful" Olivia's voice shook, "He's been a diversion a hundred times already and now this time he fails. I should've been there to help him"

Kayleen looked up to someone calling her name, it was the partner she should be fighting with today. Daniel slapped the middle sister on her back and gave her a wink. Kayleen swallowed from nervousness before nodding in Olivia's direction. Daniel gave a solemn nod before Kayleen let out a sigh as she walked over to the self-made ring. The youngest brother filled in the space between his eldest sister and watched as the other one ready to fight.

"He wouldn't want you to be feeling guilty over his death" Daniel broke the silence.

Olivia blinked as Kayleen started to fight right in front of her. She wasn't as fast as Daniel, she was thinking too much in her fight. Olivia turned her head to the side and looked up to her brother who resembled a younger version of their father. She could tell that was what she was thinking as Daniel pretended to not notice her studying him so much.

"I don't know what to do without him" Olivia confessed, "I feel like I'm drowning in freezing cold water and nothing's going to save me"

"He wouldn't want you to feel that way" Daniel comforted.

Olivia roughly wiped away a tear as Kayleen was pinned to the ground, ending the match for her. Kayleen shook hands with her partner as she bowed her head down to prevent people from seeing that she was flushing with embarrassment. Daniel clapped his hands longer than anyone else as he waited until his sister came over and stood on the other side of him.

"He wouldn't want any of this to happen if he knew we were to be hunted" Olivia looked around the room to see her new family struggling to be free of the curse of the vampire's hunt.

Olivia stepped onto the mattress, the softness of the matt made it harder for her feet to not sink to the ground. She nodded to her partner as she noticed that Dracula had come over and was now going to watch their group, Olivia swallowed and got ready to fight as her heart started to beat out of her chest.


	6. Nets and Spikes

"Why are we doing this?" Olivia asked in a bitchy voice, "What's the reason that we're out here? You haven't answered me since we left the nest. If you haven't noticed, being out at this hour kind of makes me on edge"

"I've noticed" Dracula commented in the dark, "What you didn't notice is what I intend to do in this particular area. Can you guess what that is?"

"I don't know" Olivia shrugged, "Tracking the scent of the vampires? Trying to figure out a clue about how they got near the manor. I just hope that you didn't bring me out here to track them down"

"Just the opposite actually. I'm thinking about setting up a trap" Dracula revealed, "They got very close to the building without being picked up on. That gives me great concern about what they could do with a surprise attack. I brought you out here because you have been known as the architect of the clan and it's your duty to find the next home. I just figured that you could do the opposite this time"

"What?" Olivia looked stunned, "I've never built anything"

"I have faith in you" Dracula walked by her and placed his hand upon hers for a moment, "These traps that we will create will be easy"

Olivia blushed in the darkness as she turned around and watched as Dracula picked up some branches and tested their strength. He threw one carelessly to the side before he jumped up and grabbed one of the branches at the top of the tree. She watched as he knelt and started to tie the ends together as his black hair fell into his eyes. Olivia blinked as she turned and tried to keep herself busy by mimicking his moves. The half-breed tried to check the strength of a branch but quickly snapped it like a twig. A chuckle came from behind her, making Olivia turn and glare at the ancient vampire.

The woman huffed as she turned and looked around through the darkness. On this particular night there wasn't any clouds in the sky and the moon was full. A rare occasion for this part of the States. Olivia blinked as she remembered how Dracula had the power to control the weather. She slowly turned back around and looked at the man, was he why it was so clear tonight?

Vlad seemed not to notice the woman staring down at him as he quickly made his trap. He smiled triumphantly as he took his row of spikes and disappeared into the distance.

Olivia stood there waiting nervously as she heard a bunch of rustling from where the man disappeared off to. Her fear instantly subsided as Vlad reemerged, wiping his dirty hands together as he joined her in the clearing.

"So what am I supposed to do?" Olivia asked, "You didn't give me any instructions"

"It was another flashback of mine"

"That's good then" Olivia encouraged.

"It's strangely refreshing" Vlad smirked, "For something that happened so long ago"

"I sometimes day-dream of the days when it was the 17th century, but then again I was already half dead when I was born" Olivia shrugged.

"There will be a time when we will talk about the past" Vlad commented, "Perhaps when all of this is over we will discuss what our lives were like. Right now I'm interested in teaching you everything I know. Starting with a rope. Ropes usually take time and patience, sometimes even the day to make them. Luckily for us, we aren't as slow as regular humans. That doesn't necessarily mean that it won't be tricky. These ropes will have to hold the vampires up until daybreak. We don't need any of those ropes breaking on us. Hopefully the spikes that I laid out will scare most of them off"

"Are the ropes supposed to look like this?" Olivia lifted up her perfect net as Vlad blinked in surprise, "I told you already. I was born in the 17th century. You seem to have forgotten that there was no such thing as a hardware store back in those days. My father taught me lots of things. Somethings that you grant when you are immortal. It was one of my father's occasional jobs. He was a fisherman before the machines were created. Trust me. These will hold until the end of the week if I really needed them to"

"You seem to surprise me nearly everyday, Olivia" Vlad commented.

Olivia bowed, "I've lived to amaze, my lord"

"You all really need to stop doing that" Vlad stated.

"What?" Olivia asked, "Call you "my lord"? Why not? I thought it would give you pleasant flashbacks. I thought that was the reason you've been hiding for all these years"

"Have you ever heard of a pleasant flashback?"

"Perhaps you're right on that one. I just thought it was just me. I'm not like most of our half-breeds in the clan. I don't relish on the moment that I will live to see 100 years and others will not. I've tried being human a couple of times but then I got scared of mortality. I think the thing I feared the most was giving my brother, sister, and father grief of my passing when I am finally old and grey. Daniel loves being a half-blood with one foot in between two worlds. I don't think Kayleen has liked it so much when she has the time to think about it. She's always dreamed about one day having a family of her own but we barely have enough blood in our body to call ourselves human. We will never bore any children and never sire any vampires"

"Have you ever had any plans of falling in love one day?" Vlad asked out of the blue.

Olivia turned around, "What makes you think I haven't? I've lived for 400 years now, remember?"

"I know, but from what I've gathered you've either lived under the shadow of your father or being the watchful eye of your siblings" Vlad told her.

"So you don't think I've loved" Olivia snapped back, "Fine! What if I haven't? I'm just protecting my heart from the breaking when the time comes for love to change in the eyes of the beholder. I don't need to worry about myself when I have the clan to keep alive"

"I think you want to be in love" Vlad walked away from another row full of spikes, "You're just afraid to admit it"

Olivia scoffed as she worked on another net, "Only been here for five days and he's already making assumptions. No wonder he stayed underground. To save everyone from his little body language readings"


	7. Stupify

"Good!" Vlad cheered on a boy, "Your left hook is a lot more better than yesterdays"

"Thanks, I've been working on it" the boy smiled.

"Kayleen!" Vlad yelled out, summoning the half-breed over to him, "Where's your sister?"

"I don't know" Kayleen shrugged as she looked around the room, "Most likely searching for a new place if this plan fails"

"I don't like it. I don't want anyone leaving this nest without telling me" Vlad said in a stern voice, "The vampires will be looking around for any strays. I'll have to wait for nightfall to track her down. Until then, send out the message"

"You could just try to call or text her" Kayleen suggested, "She keeps her phone by her side when she leaves"

"Do you have yours?" Vlad asked before adding, "She'll answer more to you than to me"

"I think you need to stop worrying about her. She's perfectly fine" Kayleen nodded over to the entrance, "See for yourself"

Vlad followed the young ones gaze to see Olivia coming in with some training clothes on. She had a mug of blood in her hand and looked rather flushed to most people but to everyone else, it was a sun burn. Olivia irritably scratched at her neck as she grimaced in pain. Vlad looked over to Kayleen and nodded to her before he made his way over to the other half-breed. He watched as she talked with someone and laughed at what was being said before she saw him coming over to her. Olivia turned her body and slowly walked over to Vlad until they were standing in front of one another.

"Hi. Sorry I'm a bit late. I went back to the traps and made a couple of more towards the north of the nest"

"The sun has been out for four hours now. You should be turned to dust, Olivia"

Dracula looked down to the woman as he noticed that she was burning in a bright red color which sat in contrast with her pale skin. No one else seemed to noticed that she looked that way or even reacted in any sort of endangerment. Olivia looked uncomfortable but other than that, she seemed fine. Once again, confusion threw his mind off guard. What is it that half-breeds have now that full-blooded vampires do not?

"My kind aren't as offended to the sunlight as you are" Olivia explained, "We can stand in the sunlight but the only damage it could do is just sun burn not death"

Vlad rolled his eyes and slowly nodded, making Olivia laugh at his response. He looked down to her and watched as she took the mug and brought it to her lips. Vlad's mouth nearly dropped as she noticed that while she was drinking the blood, the sun burn was fading from her skin. She broke his gaze and looked down to the floor as he noticed that a blush was rising to her cheeks.

She honestly didn't know what was going on now. All last night, she couldn't sleep, just thinking about her conversation with Vlad. It was that conversation that made her leave near dawn to set up more traps to be ready for their enemy.

Olivia looked back up to Vlad who was watching all the other half-breeds fighting. She glanced over just in time to see her sister win a match with an opponent she lost to a couple of days ago.

"Tell me next time" Vlad told her.

"I would've" Olivia responded, "But I knew you would've wanted to come with me"

"Is that a bad thing?" Vlad asked.

"To a full-blooded vampire, yes" Olivia countered.

"I would've found a way to keep a watch over you" Vlad told her.

"And die in the process" Olivia reminded him.

Vlad gave off an annoyed look as he realized that he wasn't going to win this battle with her.

"I guess you're right" Vlad admitted.

"Thank you" Olivia smiled, "Next time I will wait for the cover of darkness to have some company with me. I knew you would've been busy with looking out for the others. I didn't want to bother you and have you worried about one half-breed. If I can't go out and look for a new nest than mind as well set up more traps. I guess you can say that I was worried about our plan. I hate waiting for them to kill us"

"They're not going to kill you" Vlad took a step closer to her.

"So you think that all of us has a chance on walking out of this alive?" Olivia asked, "Look around. We may be practicing but we are beyond terrified"

"But you also have me. I will protect all of you if I must" Vlad told her, "I've done it before"

Olivia glanced back down to the ground, "I hope you're right. I'm tired of losing people who I love. We've all bonded in fear but that doesn't mean that we don't think of each other as family. We've wanted this threat to go away for as long as we thought possible. Now I just hope that we all live to see the day without fear and finally live in freedom"

Before Vlad could make anymore empty promises to her, Olivia quickly walked away and went over to the matt she was assigned. He could only watch her leave as she set down her mug and wrapped her hair into a ponytail. She turned around and gave him a glance before she blended into the crowd. Vlad looked around at the other half-breeds as they all fought each other. Yes, they have gotten used to fighting, but the vampires are still faster. He knew that some of the half-bloods would die but he would hate to think of who will.

"I'm not going to let that happen" Vlad repeated, "I'll make sure of it"


	8. Terrified

"Hey!" a man reached over and grabbed a raw piece of meat, "That ones mine! Go get your own!"

Daniel laughed as the man gave him a scolding look, "I thought you wouldn't notice. Damn! I'll have to wait until next Sunday to get that one. We ran out of beef already"

"Why do you always do that? Steal everyone else's food! If you want more than just go back in line" Kayleen pointed back over to the long table filled with blood and raw meat, "You're not a child anymore. Those tricks are getting so old. It's not even funny anymore"

Olivia shook her head as Daniel smiled with all his teeth showing as he took a piece of chicken out from his lap. Kayleen took a double glance to the meat then looked down to realize that hers was missing. She grumbled a little as Daniel placed it back onto her plate. Daniel gave a small wink as he took a sip from his blood supply. Olivia watched as her brother and sister started to bicker back and forth once again. She rolled her eyes and shook her head as she went back to eating her food.

The room was full of the half-breeds as they all ate at tiny circular tables in the dining room. Everyone seemed to be laughing or talking about their latest fighting match. Olivia remembered when it came to dinner, everyone was so busy trying to hurry up and eat in silence. She smiled and placed a hand on Kayleen's shoulder who turned and looked at her sister and smiled too. Vlad quickly opened the door and let them slam onto the wall, catching everyone's attention and making Olivia jump from the sudden sound.

"They're here!"

"What?!"

Panic seized the room as the women started to argue and scream. Olivia stood up from her chair and looked over to her siblings who seemed just as ready as she felt. She looked around and noticed that the once driven half-breeds were now scared out of their mind once again. Olivia pinched her lower lip and blew out really hard to get everyone's attention.

"To your stations!"

"Let's go!"

"Hurry!"

"The top fighters come outside with me!"

A sudden crash came from the window as a brick slammed down onto the ground. As everyone started to clear out, Olivia ran over to the fallen brick and grabbed it. Another crash came from up above her before she grabbed onto the other brick and threw bother of them outside with all the strength she had in her system.

Olivia turned around and quickly ran further into the mansion, looking for the half-breeds who didn't want to fight. It was her job to make sure that they go into the secret tunnel undetected and fully armed.

The front doors burst open revealing a great number of vampires running into the house with a crazed look in their eyes.

Olivia quickly pushed the weapons into the half-breeds hands, "Go! Open the tunnel!"

She craned her ear as she heard a series of screams and turned and looked behind her. A woman, terrified in the hands of a vampire slapped him repeatedly as she tried to pry out of his hands. The man laughed and moved to bite her neck when Olivia came up behind him, wrapped a silver whip around his neck and tightened it until his neck snapped off. Olivia let out a painful yell as she dropped the whip and looked down to her burned hands and hissed. The woman placed a hand on Olivia's arm before Olivia motioned toward the tunnel. She nodded and quickly ran over as Olivia took out leather gloves from her pocket and groaned as the burn marks rubbed against the material.

Olivia ran back over to the last few people going into the tunnel. She helped the elderly man into the entrance before quickly slamming the door and locking it. Her heartbeat raced faster as she realized that her task was done and it was time for her to fight. What happened only moments ago was just out of pure instinct and not from what Dracula has told them to do. Olivia tried to think back onto the days when he would teach them new moves but her mind was a blur and she couldn't recall anything from her memory.

Olivia ran down the hallway just as a vampire jumped down in front of her. She gasped as she slowly took a step back. The woman laughed and made a jolting move as if she was about to tackle Olivia to the ground. With one move, Olivia took out a silver knife from her pocket and threw it right into the vampires heart.

The woman let out a screech as she turned into dust and collapsed down onto the floor. Olivia ran over and took her blade out as she looked around the chaos, wondering who to fight next. She didn't know what to do but she knew that she could help a few people out who were on the losing end of their battle.

"Help me!" she heard a boy yell out.

"Help!" a girl cried from the second floor, "Somebody!"

Olivia backed up, grabbed onto the side of her head, and shut her eyes as she let out a low whine. She felt scared for trying to fight these vampires, sad of hearing her people screaming for help, but most of all, she felt angry that this clan won't leave them in peace.

Olivia opened her eyes and let out a hiss as she ran to the nearest vampire and staked him as she wasted no time in moving from one vampire to the next.

"What do we have here? The little half-breed has some balls! That's a first" a male vampire spoke to her.

Olivia let out a scream as she sliced his neck with her silver knife, "Leave us alone! We never even asked for this!"

"Olivia!" someone shouted behind her, "There's too many of them!"

"Really?" Olivia asked Noah, "We need to keep them occupied. Get the holy water, silver, something! We have to make an advantage. Try to get everyone downstairs and in a group. We're better in numbers. They're cornering us so we mind as well corner them! Hurry! We don't have much time!"

"What are you going to do?" Noah asked.

"Distract them for as long as I can. Go!" Olivia yelled before she ran to the entrance and started to fight like a wild beast that was just let out from its cage.


	9. Outside

"Hold them off!" Vlad yelled out as he beheaded a female vampire outside, "Show them what you're worth! Give them hell!"

Daniel quickly appeared by Dracula's side, "I'm going to go inside with four others. We've let a lot of vampires through while we were fighting. Both of my sisters are in there and I need to see if they're alright. Please! May I have your permission?"

Dracula nodded making Daniel quickly duck out and motioned for his friends to follow him inside. He knew that Daniel wouldn't try to abandon the fight; he has too much of a big heart for that, plus loyalty to his family means everything to him. The young half-breed would rather be dead than to leave his two older sisters to this kind of turmoil. Dracula quickly ducked from a small-sword, grabbed onto the vampire's neck, and let out a roar. He pried the sword out of his hands and stabbed him through the heart and let the dust dissolve into his hands. Dracula then started to swing the sword around and started to behead all the vampires that dared to challenge him.

"Let go of me!" a small voice yelled out.

A female vampire giggled, "Squeal, little piggy. No ones going to save you"

"Help me!" the boy noticed Dracula fighting not too far from him, "Dracula! Help me! Help!"

"Let go of him!" Dracula roared as he realized it was the small boy who looked like his son, "I will make it quick if you leave him alone"

"Not interested" the female showed her bloodstained teeth, "I love how sweet the little boys taste"

The woman turned around and slammed her teeth into the little boy, making him scream out in pain. Dracula let out a roar as part of his youth shed to show the true monster that lay beneath. He ran over to the girl, yanked her off, and bit into her neck with so much force that she let out a terrifying scream. He then slammed her into the ground and ripped off her head with his own hands as he still felt the rage consume him. Dracula then let out a couple of breaths as he realized what he just did as a small set of shoes came into his view of the ground.

The boy stammered, "Thank you. I would've been dead if it wasn't for you"


	10. Be Like That

"It's over" a half-breed woman sighed out in relief.

"They retreated, does that mean we win?" another female asked as she looked over to Dracula.

"I wish I could say so" Vlad responded, "But I just hope that with this retreat, that means they won't bother you for a long time"

"That's what I was hoping to hear" the woman smiled as she rushed back inside.

Vlad could only give a small smile as he walked in with the other half-breeds back into the mansion. A fine layer of dust and weak bones covered the floor as the once grand and mysterious home turned into a plain and ghost-like house in just a little over an hour. He heard sobbing as it seemed that everyone was making their way over to the training room. His feet followed the others as he noticed a row of bodies were displayed out all throughout the room. A wave of sadness came over him as he realized that everyone that was in this room were the half-breeds that didn't make it. The victorious half-breeds that were happy outside, started to cry as they went to either their friends or family who didn't make it in the battle.

"My lord" a voice made Vlad turn around as he noticed a tear-stained Daniel approach him, "My sister needs you. She won't admit it to herself but you will be the only one to pry her away from the body"

"Whose body?" Vlad searched the room, "What happened?"

Daniel only looked over to the corner of the room and nodded over to the direction. Vlad turned and noticed only one person was holding onto a body and rocking back and forth while crying loudly into the body's shoulder. Just witnessing the moment made him heartbroken as he slowly made his way over. Once he was close enough, Vlad noticed Kayleen's lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling with blood coming from her mouth. Vlad knelt in front of Olivia who didn't even look up to look at Vlad as she continued to rock her little sister in her arms.

"I don't understand how this could have happened" Olivia spoke up, "She was so good at fighting. How could this have happened? Who could ever do this to Kayleen?"

"I think we should close her eyes"

"Why?"

"So she could rest in the afterlife"

"Please don't say that"

"She's reunited with her father" Vlad said softly, "Your father isn't alone anymore"

"But I want her back" Olivia looked up and gazed into his eyes.

"She wouldn't want you to live like this"

"I should've been there for her. I was supposed to look after her. I failed her. I'm a horrible sister. I should've never left her side"

"That's not true" Vlad comforted, "She wouldn't want you to feel that way. I might not have seen it but I know Kayleen fought with determination and loyalty. She died as a hero, Olivia"

"She died nonetheless" Olivia sniffed, "I'll never see her again"

"But she will always see you" Vlad wiped a tear from her cheek, "She's safe now"

"I never knew it was her time" Olivia confessed, "I would've spent my last waking hours with her"

Vlad slowly nodded as he understood the feeling that she was going through. He looked down to the petite woman in Olivia's arms and cautiously moved his hand over her face. Olivia watched as Vlad gently closed her eyelids and stroked Kayleen's hair out of her face. She scrunched up her face and let out a sob as she covered her mouth and let out a small whine.

Vlad looked back up to the woman, "Now she will rest in peace forever"

Olivia nodded, "I want a funeral. Something we never did for dad. I want to sing for their last goodbye. If that's alright with you"


	11. Safe and Sound

"It's almost time" Daniel said, "Dusk is almost upon us. The ceremony will begin soon"

"What will you guys do? No one will explain to me" Vlad said from his little black makeshift tent.

The half-breeds and Dracula found themselves on the nearest cliff just west of the nest. Everyone was dressed in black as should be expected as they all said their last goodbyes to their loved ones. The fallen victims each were dressed in an elegant robe, lying around in a circle while holding onto each others hands. In the last sunlight of the day the half-breeds don't turn to dust nor become sunburned as their mourners have already did. Vlad would only peek out momentarily as he watched his people in such a sorrowful state of mind. Daniel had finally decided to stand by the small tent as he had just given his sister one last kiss on her forehead.

"It's kind of hard to explain" Daniel responded.

Vlad nodded, "Some people are missing from the funeral"

"I'm pretty sure you mean my older sister when you said that" Daniel replied with a hint of a smirk on his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't ask directly about Olivia. So where are they? Shouldn't they be here? I know your sister wanted to sing a farewell song for the fallen"

"The performers are usually the last ones to have to arrive"

Vlad wanted to press on about the matter but decided to keep his mouth shut. He didn't want to ask about the situation anymore. It almost made him feel horrible for asking about the ceremony when Daniel's sister was laying lifeless right in front of him. The flap of the tent moved back as Daniel revealed that the sun had already set. The ancient one crawled out from his tight space and stood up straight as he felt his legs and back ache for sitting in the small space for almost an hour.

He walked over to the bodies and made his way around the circle as he placed Chrysanthemums in each hand. Over the years he had come to realize that these flowers were the ones he adored the most. They represent compassion, friendship, and joy which he felt is what this clan had given him. Vlad stood over Kayleen, the last body without a flower; he took his time as he closed his eyes, sniffed the Chrysanthemum before carefully folding it into her hands.

Vlad turned and ran his hand through Art's hair, the boy who looked like his son. Art looked up and gave a gentle nod as he bowed his head to cry. The little boy lost his only remaining relative in the battle, his older brother.

"We should give people time to grieve" Vlad said as he approached Daniel, "I don't want people to think that we will resume training after this defeat"

"People don't think this is a defeat"

"Six people died last night"

"And we all would have been killed if it wasn't for you" Daniel responded.

"Perhaps you're right" Vlad said quietly.

"Olivia and the others are coming"

"What's going to happen?"

Daniel remained silent as everyone backed up to let Olivia and two others walk to the front. Vlad noticed that the performers stood in front of the person that they had lost in the battle.

Olivia took off her hood and closed her eyes as one of the performers started to strum a guitar.

_I remember tears streaming down your face_

_When I said, "I'll never let you go"_

_When all those shadows almost killed your light_

_I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"_

_But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight_

_Just close your eyes_

_The sun is going down_

_You'll be alright_

_No one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light_

_You and I'll be safe and sound_

_Don't you dare look out your window, darling,_

_Everything's on fire_

_The war outside our door keeps raging on_

_Hold on to this lullaby_

_Even when music's gone_

_Gone_

Vlad watched as Art walked over to the bodies with a torch in his hand. The little boy placed it down in the center of the circle, making it quickly light up and take flame. He saw tears in Art's eyes as the fallen victim's slowly started to become consumed in the fire. Vlad heard crying right next to him as Daniel knelt and cried into his own hand. A female, Sandra, made her way through the small crowd and knelt beside him in a comforting matter. Vlad looked over to Olivia who broke her gaze from her sister to look up at Vlad through the fire.

_Just close your eyes_

_The sun is going down_

_You'll be alright_

_No one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light_

_You and I'll be safe and sound_

_Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh_

_Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh_

_La La (La La)_

_La La (La La)_

_Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh_

_Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh_

_La La (La La)_

_Just close your eyes_

_You'll be alright_

_Come morning light,_

_You and I'll be safe and sound..._

_Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh oh oh._

"May they rest in peace" Vlad said quietly.

Art came over to Dracula as he wiped tears out of his eyes, "What will happen now? There will be a retaliation after this day. The vampires will try to come back. They always do"

"We will discuss this later. Right now, it is okay to grieve"

"I don't want to grieve anymore" Art shook his head, "I want to get back out there and fight. I want to kill whatever is left of those vampires"

"We will" Dracula promised.

"Before they attack us again?" Art questioned.

"Leave that all up to me. I don't want anyone fighting with rage in their hearts"

"Why not?" Art made a face, "We can easily take them. We'll want to be more aggressive after what happened in our home"

"You've spoke like a true warrior... but rage can easily blind your senses from being blood thirsty" Dracula told him.

"Then why are we waiting around?" Art demanded, "We need to go now"

"Art, please" Vlad stood up straighter, "If you ask one more time to invade the vampires den then I will send you to the refugee home where the rest of the clan is"

Vlad watched as Art ran off back over to the house, "Don't pay attention to him"

"And you agree with him?" Vlad turned to Olivia.

"I did" Olivia looked back over to the burning bodies, "The first time. When my father died, I was destroyed. I didn't have a body to hold and the skeleton crushed beneath my hands. I wanted so much to go after them and destroy them. I wanted to make them feel the pain that I was feeling back then"

"But your siblings kept you sane" Vlad took a step closer to her, "Just like how Daniel should keep you sane now"

"And he will" Olivia folded her arms over her chest, "And what would happen if he dies? I would be the only one left"

"You have this clan and you have me" Vlad mentioned, "You can't think that family only lies within blood. You formed this clan out of fear but remained together nonetheless"

"I know"

"You should come back to the nest" Vlad nodded down the trail, "Get a cup of warm blood and relax"

"I feel like I can't breathe" Olivia sniffed as she shuddered, "I feel like I'm right there dying right beside her"

Olivia cried out as she fell to the ground and started to cry. Vlad knelt next to her and leaned her body onto his. Under his grasp, he could feel her skin was almost as soft as a humans but her strength matched a vampires. Olivia crawled onto his lap and jammed her head into the crook of his neck as he felt tears streaming down his back. Vlad held her closer to his body as he picked her up and started to walk her through the darkness.

"Just keep crying, it's alright" Vlad whispered into her hair.

"Thank you" Olivia hugged his neck tighter, "Don't leave me here alone"


	12. Retaliation

Olivia stared off into space as she can feel herself slowly losing her mind to grief. She had already cried her eyes out and slept most of the day so now she only can feel the emptiness of living her life without her sister and father. Downstairs she can hear people chatting and occasionally hear her brother talking now that there were so few that want to stay and fight. He door flung open, making Olivia jump as she sat up right to see Adam had just come into her room unannounced. She watched as the tall man walked over and started to search outside of the window, making the woman stand up and what for the man to talk to her. He turned around and walked over to Olivia and lowered his face so close to her that she nearly thought he was going to kiss her.

"We're leaving, Olivia. Some of us are going to strike back" Adam whispered, "Frederick tracked down those assholes and know where their pit is. We're tired of mourning over loved ones. We want to know if you will join us. Daniel is the only one left in your family and you lost your father and sister in back to back battles"

"Adam" Olivia shook her head, "You don't have to tell me the story. I can easily recall their deaths in my mind"

"I'm sorry" Adam bowed, "But we need someone like you. Dracula has praised you on your fighting skills and we need that. The rest of us are only basic fighters. We want to get this thing done and out-of-the-way. Dracula won't understand. He's useful, yes, but he wants us to wait to get our mindset back together. Some of us want to use this rage. We want to make them pay for all the lives they've cost in this sick game. If you decide against this then our request is simple. Please, don't tell Lord Dracula about this plan. He'll want to stop us if he finds out. Well, he'll try but it will be for the worst of him. We don't want him to die with the others"

"You're going at dawn" Olivia pieced together, "That's why it's very ill-fated for Dracula to find out. I want to come"

"Are you sure you're up for this?"

"I've been thinking about killing them for a long time now... I'm ready"

"If you say so" Adam nodded.

"Thank you for telling me all of this" Olivia gave her best small smile.

"We'll meet in the training room" Adam informed her.

"I will be there" Olivia promised.


	13. It's the Only One You've Got

Dracula walked into the Dining Hall the next morning to be greeted by Noah, the elderly vampire came up to him, "We couldn't stay away. We all felt guilty in leaving everyone to fight like that"

"If you think you're up for it" Dracula lightly patted him on the shoulder, "I'm glad you're here. We lost 6 of our kind and everyone is still grieving"

"I've been brought up to speed" Noah nodded.

"I forgot about this part of war" Dracula shook his head, "I honestly thought that we would win this fight with a single blow"

"You did the best you could in this time of need"

"Now I want to make it right. I want more than ever now to destroy this clan myself"

"I don't think that would be a wise idea" Noah nodded toward the sun just breaking through the tall window, "Maybe when you have the cover of darkness on your side"

"I can control the weather. It shouldn't be a problem" Dracula shrugged before he took a double take around the room, "Something's wrong. They're people missing. I can't hear they're heartbeats in this manor"

"I think I know who you are talking about" Noah surveyed the room, "And I believe we both know where they're heading to"

* * *

><p>Olivia let out a hiss as she ripped back the head of a boy and cut off his head with her silver blade. She turned and staked a female vampire just in time before she could try to bite into Olivia.<p>

She looked around the room at her friends and family fighting alongside with her. She realized that this was not a good idea. The half-breeds were fighting with vengeance but were careless not to realize that their bodies were still tired from fighting two days ago. It was only luck that the vampires were still fatigue from sleeping before the sun came up. Olivia was about to get a running start to the painted black sun roof to break when she felt a sudden pain as someone pulled her hair back.

"Leaving so soon?"

Olivia let out a gasp as she was thrown across the room and hit her back painfully on a pillar. She let out a hiss as she tried to quickly get herself up onto her feet.

"Poor baby, where's your Count Dracula?" the woman giggled.

"Not here" Olivia let out, "He sent us to make sure you all burn in hell"

Olivia was lifted up and slammed into the wall as the woman's eyes turned red. Olivia took the small silver knife that she had and sliced the woman's arm, making the woman scream out. She kicked the woman's knee and head butted her to the ground. She raised the knife high above her head so that she could finish the job. The woman grabbed onto Olivia's arm as the two struggled to gain the upper hand in the fight. The woman then quickly moved her hand as the force of the knife when directly into Olivia's stomach, making her scream out in pain.

"Looks like silver can hurt you too" the woman whispered into Olivia's ear.


	14. Help is On The Way

Olivia shoved a vampire away from her and then ran a stake through its heart. As the vampire turned to dust, she collapsed down onto the ground as she started to heavily gasp. It seemed to give her much difficulty as she picked up her head and looked around the room. Her vision began to water and blur even though she knew for a fact she wasn't crying. A vampire was about to join in on a two on one attack against a half-breed when she stopped and slowly turned to Olivia. She let out a shuddering breath as she looked down to her hand and noticed that it was still soaked with blood.

"You're losing a lot of blood" the woman stated.

Olivia swallowed, "I haven't lost my strength yet. I can still turn you to dust before I die"

"We'll see about that" the woman smirked, "But then again, I could just watch you bleed out. There's nothing better than watching a small pup succumb to its wounds. I just can't wait until the pain kicks in for you, or is it already there? Of course, you don't look too fast now. I could just feed from you already. Just end you pain by adding a little more pain. So many options"

"Half-breed blood tastes horrible to vampires. You wouldn't get the satisfaction that you're craving now. I'd rather die to my wound instead of having your teeth sink into my skin. Try it and you will get a slow beheading"

"What a threat!" the woman moved up her hands to her face in a mock shock.

"You bet your ass it's a threat. I suggest that you stay right there" Olivia quivered, "You wouldn't be able to hurt me even if you could. I would just leave this place if I were you"

"And why's that?" she placed her hand on her hips.

"Look around you!" Olivia snapped, "We're winning! All of your little friends are dying"

"So you want me to go out to the daylight" The woman pointed to the sun behind her, "Where I can burn to death?"

"It's better than being in here. When Dracula comes, you'll all be sorry" Olivia smirked.

"What makes you think he'll even show up? Why would he bring all of you before him in the first place?" She blinked and then smiled, "Because you guys never told him"

"It was all part of the plan. We just had to tire you out before he comes here" Olivia started to cough heavily.

"Looks like the silver is working into your system" she said with a bit of an excitement in her eye, "It's only going to be a little while longer before you start to fade in and out"

"Stay away from me. Come anywhere closer to me and I will kill you. I may die soon but I won't go down without a fight. I've hated your kind all of my life and would love to have my last waking breath be to kill you. Just try me, bitch! You won't know pain until you've crossed me. I've spent 400 years of my life running from you and I'm sick of it!"

"So do it!" the woman lifted up her hands, "Kill me!"

"Are you challenging me?"

"Either way it's going to be your blood everywhere"

"Maybe" Olivia picked up her head, "But it would be worth it"

"Then let's find out"

"Fine! Have it your way!"

"Then get up! I don't want to look like I'm bullying someone! I want to see how much of this "Strength" you've got left inside of you" She paced as Olivia struggled to get herself up into a standing place.

Olivia stood up and leaned herself onto the wall behind her. The woman showed her teeth and let out a low growl. She lunged at her but Olivia ducked and rolled onto the ground and grabbed a fallen silver knife. She turned around and stabbed the woman in the stomach. She let out a scream similar to Olivia's just minutes ago. She went behind the woman and slowly started to sink the knife into her skin. Smoke came from the vampire's neck as she let out a growl and scream at the same time. Olivia went as slowly as she possibly could and attracted nearly all the attention in the room. A gurgling sound came from the vampire as she finally turned into dust. Olivia collapsed down onto the ground once again as she heaved in the air and dust into her lungs.

"This was a big mistake" Olivia whispered, "I'm sorry, Dracula"

"You need to get out of here" Adam came up beside her.

"I have to stay" Olivia tried to get up, "I have to help"

"You're no use to us half-dead. We need to find you some blood and fast" Adam looked around the room, "There's got to be a human hostage in here somewhere"

"I don't want a human" Olivia said in a delirious voice, "I don't want to be like them. I can hold on"

"You have no choice, Olivia" Adam told her, "You're dying, not starving. Everyone knows that the human blood is the fastest way to heal"

"We can't leave" Olivia shook her head, "You're too valuable and they need you"

"Then stay here" Adam looked around the room.

"Help them fight" Olivia urged in a weak voice.

"I'm going to help you survive" Adam countered.

Adam picked up Olivia, making her let out a yell from the pain in her side. He stayed low and in the shadows as Adam went across the room and to the corner. There he laid Olivia down on a worn out and dirty mattress and tried to make her as comfortable as he could. Adam laid down a wooden cardboard down over her and ran off to find a victim. He went into the other room and tried to smell out a human before a vampire came out of nowhere and snapped his neck clear off of his shoulders.

The panic and fighting continued as the skies darkened, unbeknownst to everyone in the old factory. No one understood what happened but the sun roof completely shattered and huge bats came swarming in and covered the place with bats as half-breeds and vampires alike threw themselves to the ground. Everyone watched as the bats formed together a man with a hideous white face and eyes blood-red with rage. Dracula stood in the middle of the room before he let out a roar that shook the walls of the old building.

A series of hisses came from up above as the half-breeds jumped down to join Dracula in the help of their friends. They didn't even wait for Dracula's command as they each went to a vampire who was still cowering in fear. He noticed that not a lot of vampires were left standing, maybe even 15 but these were the 15 who would be the hardest to kill.

"You!" Dracula grabbed onto Art's arm, "What did I tell you about leaving the nest?!"

"It wasn't my idea!" Art yelled back.

"It doesn't matter" Dracula told him, "You're too young to die. Where's Olivia?"

"I don't know" Art looked around, "I haven't seen her since the start of the attack"

Dracula let go of Art's arm and looked around the room. They were moving too much and he couldn't seem to find the particular half-breed. A sinking feeling made him remember what it was like to watch his wife fall from the tower once again. Something was very wrong.

He didn't know where she was but all he knew was that she was in danger. He had to find Olivia and fast. Dracula turned and charged past a mattress with a cardboard on it as he went to search the other rooms for her.


	15. Death

Vlad charged into a room, "Where is she? Where's Olivia?"

A half-breed spoke up, "She was with Adam"

Daniel broke through the crowd, "Adam's dead"

Vlad gripped onto a passing female half-breed, "Find her"

"He's more anxious to find her than you are" the male half-breed pointed out.

"Don't you get it?" the female countered.

"Get what?" he questioned.

"You idiot"

"He loves her"

Vlad threw a stake into a vampire's heart, "Olivia! Where are you?"

"Dracula!" Art yelled out, catching his attention.

"Have you found her?" Vlad questioned.

"No" Art turned and pointed at a muscular vampire, "But he's killed at least six of our kind already"

Vlad let out a low growl as he marched through the invasion over to a tall and muscular vampire. He let out a cheerful laugh before he set his eyes onto Dracula himself, then that laugh faded and he smirked at the challenge. The vampire slammed down his fist onto Dracula who easily kept the man's arm up as he took out a silver knife and jabbed him in the rib. The man howled as the Dark One kicked the man's knee, making it snap as he collapsed onto the floor. Vlad cut the vampire's head off before he could even find the thought to try to fight off his opponent. Vlad let out a growl as he surveyed the room as his fear turned into frustration.

"Maybe she fled the factory" a woman suggested.

"That's not like her" Vlad said in a low voice.

The woman let out a sigh, "We can't spare anymore people, we need to end this before the remaining vampires get the upper hand"

"Keep one alive" Vlad told her.

"As you wish" she bowed, "What are you going to do?"

Vlad turned around and moved his hand like as if he was about to strike at the female half-breed. She let out a shriek before she noticed that Vlad had his arm over her shoulder and a strangled sound was coming from right behind her. The woman looked over and then quickly moved away as she noticed that the Dark One had just saved her from a vampire getting ready to bite into her skin. Vlad turned the woman around and spun her head around her shoulders as a sickening crack came from her neck before it turned to dust. He only took a moment to look down at the pile of dust as he kicked the bones away from his feet.

"Leave one alive!" Vlad commanded to his group.

He turned around and grabbed onto a stake that was inches away from stabbing him in the heart. The woman tried her best to beat him in a strength of arms game. Vlad then squeezed onto her wrist, making it shatter within his touch as she let out a horrifying scream. He grabbed onto the stake and stabbed her in the heart and let the dust and bones collapse down onto the ground.

The woman half-breed came up with a smile on her face, "Only three more left! Then it's all over"

It wasn't the news that he was hoping for as he decided to resume his place as a leader and walk over to the center of the room. He heard a man cry out as he crumpled into dust as the half-breeds gathered all around him. Daniel brought over the last vampire as she fell down in front of the circle that the half-breeds have made.

"What are you going to do?" the woman asked in a shaken voice, "Aren't you going to kill me?"

"I'm going to do the opposite" Vlad told her, "You're terrified and you should be. You've seen what the half-breeds could do. Now I want you to live to tell the tale"

"What? I don't understand" she replied, "You're letting me go? Why? Don't I deserve to die?"

"Are you telling me to take your life?" Vlad took a step toward her.

"No!" she yelped.

"Then when it comes to nightfall, I want you to leave and tell everyone what's happened here" Vlad commanded.

The woman looked uncertain as she looked around the room and could easily tell that she was outnumbered. She bit onto her lip and then slowly bowed down to Dracula.

"I swear it" she promised, "I will tell everyone that you are the guardian of the half-breeds. Everyone won't challenge your strength ever again"

"I wasn't talking about my strength!" Vlad yelled out, making her jump, "I was talking about what these so-called 'weak' hybrids can do. You will leave and talk about how they easily wiped out a clan that was stronger and faster than themselves. You will impose fear onto these people and if I ever hear of any vampire hunting down on half-breeds again, I will find you. I will make you suffer in the hands of me as you have done to these people around me"

The last vampire nodded as she quickly sprinted out of the circle and out of their sight causing a chorus of cheers coming from all the half-breeds.

A woman let out a scream, "Oh my God! Olivia!"

By the sound of her name, Vlad looked up and turned around to see a woman in the far corner. The woman turned around with tears in her eyes as Vlad ran so fast over to her that he felt like he was flying. The small clan ran after him and stopped and let out a gasp as they noticed what was lying on the bed. Vlad slowly knelt to a sickly pale Olivia with dark veins protruding out from her skin. She looked in pain as she lay lifeless for everyone to see. Daniel let out a sob as Noah wrapped a comforting arm around the man.

Vlad's hands shook violently as he picked up the light body and held it to him. He bent down his head and took in the scent of her hair as he gently rocked her back and forth. It was because of her that he finally found a purpose in his life, a moment full of meaning and people who made him feel whole again. A strangled gasp came from under him as Olivia coughed painfully. He looked down to her and could see how much suffering she was in.

"Olivia!" Daniel quickly dropped down next to Vlad, "You can pull through this"

"She needs to feed" Noah commanded.

"Stay with me" Vlad whispered to her.

"Dracula?" Olivia let out, "Is that really you? Am I in a dream? Or maybe death has already taken me. I thought death would be more peaceful than this. Instead, I feel stiff and in pain. I guess that's the afterlife for creatures of the damned like us. We don't get a heaven"

"Stop talking like that" Vlad placed his fingertips on her lips.

"Please do something for me" She shuddered, "Look after Daniel. He's looked up to you in so many ways. You'll be the only one who will understand him. I have faith in both of you. Do this for me"

"I'm not going to let this happen again to me" Vlad shook his head violently.

"I was going to have to die eventually" Olivia said in a lower voice.

Vlad looked over to Daniel who looked back over to his mentor. They both knew that Olivia's eyes were already failing her if she could only see Vlad holding her. Death was in the same room with the poor woman. Daniel set his jaw, looked at Vlad and gave him a firm nod with tears in his eyes.

"Stay with me" Vlad shook her slightly, "I want you to answer me honestly. Do you want to die? Are you willing to let your life go?"

"Of course I don't" Olivia wheezed, "Not after my father and sister died, not after you entered my life"

"I can grant you a different kind of life" Vlad told her, "But I want your permission first"

"Please, Vlad" Olivia grabbed onto his shirt, "I beg of you. I don't want to die. Not after everything that's happened"

Vlad quickly bit into his wrist before offering it over to Olivia. He could feel her soft lips wrap around his skin as the blood poured into her mouth. His eyes remained on hers as he could see that the poison was taking hold of her body before her eyes shuttered closed as her hand collapsed down to the floor.


	16. Let Me Be Myself

"What if you were too late?" Daniel asked for about the 60th time, "Olivia was near death when we first saw her. For all we know, she's just a corpse. What if I've lost another sister"

"She drank from my blood" Dracula said in a slow and slightly annoyed voice.

"What if it wasn't enough" Daniel continued.

"She drank plenty before she died" Dracula commented.

"Then its hopeless to keep her here" Daniel breathed out.

"She has to die to be reborn into a vampire" Dracula let out, "Even with just one drop from my blood she would've turned into a vampire. It's taking this long because my blood is trying to flush out the silver and save her"

"Will she be any different?" Daniel asked.

"I don't know" Dracula answered honestly.

"Will you help her?" Daniel questioned.

"I will do anything in my power to keep her from turning evil. I swear to you" Dracula looked at him firmly.

After Daniel didn't ask anymore questions, Vlad slumped back into the chair and looked over to the bed. Olivia laid there as pale as a ghost with dark and deep shadows around her eyes. She was almost as good as dead now. Even though he's been answering Daniel's questions for over an hour, he still couldn't help but feel worried himself. There was silver in her system when she drank from him and she didn't know if that would kill the vampire side or make her stronger. He wished that he could listen into her heart to know that he wasn't going to be staring at Olivia's lifeless body all week.

He leaned forward and placed his hand upon hers and knelt his head down onto the back of her hand. Vlad started to whisper a silent prayer over and over, hoping that his faith would help her. His mind drifted back to his beloved wife as she wanted him to be happy once more and just before he could find his happiness, it was being taken away from him. He wanted more than ever to profess his love to the half-breed but then the vampires had taken her sister away, withholding his secret from her. Now he fears that he will never get to have the chance.

"I'm going to go"

"Don't you want to stay?"

"More than ever" Daniel admitted.

Vlad looked over to the other male, "Then stay"

Daniel smiled, "I think she wants to see you before me"

"I believe she would want to see both of us" Vlad countered.

"I'm kind of tired" Daniel stretched and yawned.

"That's a lie" Vlad told him.

"Well, one was" Daniel shrugged, "But the other was the truth"

"Thank you" Vlad nodded, "I will call for you once she's awake"

_"I've thought" Mirena said, "If anything may happen to me, I would want you to be happy again. I would love to see you find love once more. I don't want you to waste your life away when you have so much more left to give"_

_"Why are you talking like this, love?" Dracula whispered to her in the darkness as they lay facing each other._

_"It was just a dream I had" Mirena shrugged, "You lived your life in sorrow and shut yourself out from the world. I don't want that to be your life. If I am the first to die, I will send a woman down to earth that will change your mind about the world and you will never have to be lonely anymore"_


	17. Rebirth

Olivia sat up, "I can't breathe!"

Vlad reached out to her and placed both of his hands on her arms, "Easy. You don't need to breathe anymore. It isn't a necessity to you now. Just try to calm down and everything will come back to you. All of your senses may seemed heightened by now. It may drive you crazy but you will soon get used to it. Just try to relax and everything will go back to normal. You must understand that I had to do this. You begged me to turn you. Your brother was the one who wanted you to become a vampire"

Olivia closed her eyes as she tried to shut out the constant hammering of the hearts of everyone in the room. She heard a scratching near her ear making her reach up and grab onto it as she looked around the room. Her eyes zoned in to a spider that looked almost as big as the room. Her skin felt cold and hard as she tried to squirm away from the spider that she already knew was across the room. She looked over to Dracula and then stopped as she noticed that he was still staring at her with concern in his eyes. Olivia remembered that was the last thing she saw before she had a taste of his blood.

"I remember" Olivia whispered.

"I didn't think you would make it" Vlad confessed, "You were out for a very long time. Longer than any other vampire who was turning. I was terrified that you were dead"

Olivia blinked as she looked over to Vlad who had let go of her arms. He turned and leaned over as he placed his elbows on top of his knees. She watched him as she became aware that he seemed sad of how close she was to death. Olivia gave a small smile as she felt warm inside once again. She scooted over and placed her hand on his shoulder as he closed his eyes.

"Thank you" Olivia told him, "You saved me"

"I cursed you" Vlad countered, "You can never go outside, eat human food, or resist the hunger of blood. You will feel changed. Nothing will be the same for your life anymore"

He turned and looked into Olivia's eyes and almost got lost in how knowledgable and pure they were. After watching her sleeping for so long, he forgot how much wisdom this one woman had in store. She knew of the risks and knew what she was throwing away but that never stopped her. Most people would want to become a vampire because they feared death, she wanted to become one because she feared her brother would be forever alone.

Vlad shifted over as he gently touched her skin once more. Olivia smiled at the touch and cast her eyes down to the ground. Even with her eyes turned away, Vlad still played with her hair and caressed her cheek.

"There's something I need to tell you" Olivia struggled to get out, "I can't seem to keep it to myself and I really need you to know this now. I've developed feelings for you. I've tried to deny it but it seems that I can't"

"I know" Vlad smiled, "Why do you think that I favored you over the other women?"

"I just thought it was because I was the one who introduced you to this clan" Olivia shrugged, "Call me oblivious"

"It took me a while to come around to my own feelings as well" Vlad whispered.

"You had a good reason" Olivia mumbled.

Olivia brushed the sheets away as she tried her best not to feel ashamed for developing feelings for Vlad. She could tell in the way that he carries himself that he still believes that she will come through the door any day now.

"That reason is safe in heaven now" Vlad told her.

"You still love her" Olivia responded.

"Don't you understand? I will always love her" Vlad cupped her face, "But it doesn't mean that there isn't a place for you in return. I feel like I've rested enough when it comes to the terms of courtship"

Olivia smiled, "I still can't believe that this is Dracula that is saying all of this to me. I feel almost like an honored queen when you speak to me like that"

Vlad leaned in and kissed Olivia on the lips as his lips molded onto hers in a sweet, slow and gentle embrace.


	18. Vampires

"Well!" Daniel smiled, "Welcome back to the land of the living!"

"Thanks" Olivia greeted, "I'm not technically living anymore"

"Neither am I" Daniel shrugged.

"I'm sorry for what I did" Olivia told him, "It was completely self-centered of me. It wasn't just me who lost a sister but you as well. I should've acted more rationally"

"You're the eldest" Daniel placed a hand on her shoulder, "A lot of things were thrust onto your shoulders. I wasn't expecting anything less of you. You just need to learn to open up more. You may be a vampire but you're still human. We're all that we've got now. Mind as well get used to it! I'm not going anywhere anytime soon"

Olivia smiled as she went up onto her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around her brother's neck. She heard Daniel let out a chuckle as he embraced her in a tight hug. Normally, his hugs would bother her because they were too tight, now it hardly even felt like he was using all of his strength. Before she broke the hug, Olivia placed a kiss on his cheek as she went back down to her own height. Daniel smiled down at her with tears in his eyes as he felt relieved that Olivia's life was spared and he wasn't the only left in the line. Olivia winked at him as she turned and walked back over to her bed.

Vlad had told her who had died in the battle and was fully aware of Adam's sacrifice. He was the last person she saw before her delirium took hold. She sat down on the bed and ran a hand through her hair as she closed her eyes. She had been out for so long that she had missed the funeral ceremony for those fallen few. Daniel sat down in front of her as she started to collect her thoughts together.

This was it. No more being hunted. At least for their clan. Still, Olivia felt the aching feeling the hunt down those vampires who brought death to her kind.

"What happened to the other vampires?" Olivia asked.

Daniel hesitated as he wondered whether to tell her of what had happened. Vlad did warn to give everything some time. He glanced over to the door before leaning in and smiling to his eldest and only sister.

Olivia didn't have to have her brother say another word to her. He hasn't smiled that brightly since he was a little boy.

Their clan was free from the hunt.

Still, something felt incomplete. She still felt the need to protect her clan and everyone else's. Olivia wanted to recruit more half-breeds. Not just to find strength in numbers but to have them to make sure that they felt safe. She knew of the fear they felt and knew all too well to feel death just waiting on the other side of the door. Olivia wanted to help what was left of her kind and end the other battles with the vampires going after the half-breeds.

There was plenty of room in the house now. Too many people have died and the house seemed too quiet. She knew that Noah would be perfectly fine about it, she hoped. Olivia stood up and walked over to the window and looked outside to the rain pouring down during the afternoon. She could easily leave and find others to join them within four hours thanks to the cover from the sun.

Just as she was about to speak up, Daniel cleared his throat really loudly. Olivia turned to look at her brother who mocked her with his arms over his chest and his eyebrow raised. Her shoulders slumped as she knew that she knew it was the vampire her that was thinking those things. The best thing to do now was to just stay put and enjoy the time she had left with Daniel and Vlad.

A chorus of voices yelled from downstairs, "OLIVIA!"

"What in the hell was that?" Olivia asked her brother.

"I don't know, you should probably go check it out" Daniel said in a rushed voice.

"I'm most likely going to regret this" Olivia mumbled as she walked over to the door.

Daniel followed her downstairs as she made her way into the Dining Hall and then stopped as confetti dropped from the ceiling and cheers erupted. There was a banner written in yellow saying 'Welcome Back, Olivia!' that made her smile with joy. She noticed that everyone, even the people who had run to the safe house had come back to celebrate.

Daniel leaned his head down to hers, "Do you regret it now? Lighten up, will you? It's a party made just for you. Drink some blood and have a good time! The worst is behind us"

"You planned all of this" Olivia smiled to her brother.

"So sue me" Daniel shrugged and then walked away.

Olivia shook her head as she felt weight come down onto her shoulders and wrap herself toward a body on her side. She turned and looked up just in time to have Vlad bend down his head to kiss her on the forehead.

"Did you know about this?" Olivia questioned.

Vlad chuckled as he gave her shoulder a firm grip.

"I might've known" Vlad suggested, "Daniel couldn't sleep while you slept and kept on asking me the same three questions over and over. I had to give him something else to look forward to. Everyone else seemed pretty excited to get involved too"

"Thank you, my Count" Olivia smiled, "For letting my brother turn this party into his way of picking up women"

"Call me Vlad from now on" Vlad told her, "I feel like sticking to that name has lost its touch with you. I'd rather have you call me by the name I was born with rather than the nickname everyone refers to me as"

Olivia almost felt alive again from the notion of that name. Calling Dracula, Vlad was something really new to her. She's always loved the way his name sounded but never dared to have to use it in front of him. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and smiled up to Vlad. He too gave her a warm smile as he placed his hand in hers and walked her through the crowd. She beamed as she looked around to everyone as they said their congratulations and hellos to her.

"So what happens now?" Olivia asked, "Can we live here after all that has happened? Will vampires start trying to come and challenge us once more?"

"Not with you and I here" Vlad told her.

Vlad led her over to the drinks and poured two cups of blood for themselves. Olivia heard whispering right in her ear and turned to see what was going on. Kayleen's old friends were gossiping and staring right at Olivia. When they noticed that she was looking right at them, they all moved as a group out of her sight. Olivia stared at the spot until Vlad stood right in her path and offered her the drink.

"Don't worry too much about them" Vlad smirked, "They were mostly jealous of how you won over my affections. They talk so loudly when those four are alone"

Olivia couldn't help but laugh as she brought the cup up to her lips. She suddenly felt this surge of thirst and power as the blood tasted really warm and sweet to her lips. Slurping sound came from her mouth as she quickly put the cup down and noticed that it was already empty. Olivia looked up to Vlad as she felt her whole body pulsing with the newfound blood in her system.

Vlad picked up a white napkin and gently smoothed it over Olivia's lips as traces of blood appeared on the napkin. She shuddered at his touch as she was both terrified and excited by her different changes. Vlad traced her lips with his thumb before he cupped the side of her face and gave Olivia a warm smile.

Olivia gave him a small smile as he bent down and kissed her lips once again. She placed her hand on his neck as he broke the kiss and placed his forehead on top of hers.

"I will help you through this" he swore to her.


	19. Soundtrack

_**Away from the Sun- 3 Doors Down**_

_**Lips of an Angel- Hinder**_

_**Stupify- Disturbed**_

_**Be Like That- 3 Doors Down**_

_**It's the Only One You've Got- 3 Doors Down**_

_**Let Me Be Myself- 3 Doors Down**_

_**Heaven Knows- The Pretty Reckless**_

_**Your Arms Feel Like Home- 3 Doors Down**_

_**When Heaven's Not Far Away- Cold**_

_**So Long- Stereoside**_

_**Here Without You- 3 Doors Down**_

_**Breath- Breaking Benjamin**_

_**You're the One- Rev Theory**_


End file.
